Disclaimer: I do not own Worm, that belongs to Wildbow. I do not own Heroes of the Storm, that belongs to Activision-Blizzard and Blizzard Entertainment.
Call of the Nexus
Chapter 5
January 21, 2011
Brockton Bay Dockworkers Association
It was early in the shift as Danny was looking over a possible job contract for the Dockworkers to hire them for a construction job near the Trainyards. The intercom beeped and Susan said, "Danny, I have Mike McGee from the Janitors and Custodians Union on line three."
Danny replied, "Thanks, Susan, I'll take it."
Danny picked up the phone and answered, "Mike, it's Danny."
"Hey Danny. Listen, I wanted to call you and let you know that we're onboard. Our people will be pulling their kids out of every school in Brockton Bay in protest on Monday. From preschool to high school Danny. We're with you."
"Thanks, Mike. I really appreciate this.", Danny said in a grateful tone.
Mike said, "Not a problem, Danny, if you think of anything else we can help you with, don't hesitate to reach out."
Danny responded, "Will do, thanks Mike."
The two hung up the phones and Danny stood up and gave a fist pump and an excited "Yes!"
Danny was thrilled at this news, now he just needed to find out if the Bus Driver's union was onboard as well. Hopefully he'd find out soon but now it was time to go back to work.
Twenty minutes later, as Danny was looking up from the contract paperwork, Susan called him over the intercom. "Danny, you need to come out and see this, something's going on at Winslow High."
Danny got up and walked over to outside where there was a TV that was left playing in the reception area that was playing local news. Susan saw Danny approach and she started, "Danny, something's happening at Winslow. I just turned on the TV and they say that the FBI and police are there and they're saying that a massive scandal has been uncovered."
Danny looked at Susan then at the television as currently the TV was showing an aerial view of the high school and parking lot and Danny could see that there were multiple police cars in the parking lot and what looked like ambulances and trucks with big trailers parked in the school's track and football field.
The camera switched to the anchor desk of the TV news and focused on the anchorwoman as she looked at the camera and began, "If you're just joining us for this Special Report, a massive law enforcement presence descended on Winslow High School this morning as shocking allegations against the administration detailing embezzlement, fraud, corruption, conspiracy, and negligence have come to light as well as evidence has arisen against suspects involved in the January third incident where a student was shoved into their locker filled with biological waste. A Protectorate connection has also been linked to the January third crime as one of the suspects is reported to be a Ward. Just moments ago medical vehicles, including semi trucks with a command center from the CDC have arrived as well as a Police Department Command Center have also arrived on the scene."
The camera switched over to the other news anchor, a man who continued on. "That's right Mary, our ABC7 investigative reporter Tanya Sinclair has been on the scene and we're going back to her now. Tanya, what do you have for us?"
The camera switched over to a reporter standing on the sidewalk in front of Winslow High School. She was tall, about five feet eleven inches with red hair and very pretty. With a serious expression Tanya started, "Hello, a lot has happened the past few minutes. Ambulances and semi trucks from the CDC have arrived and have moved to park at the track and football field behind the school. We have not received any statements from anyone at the school or on site law enforcement at this time."
"But, for those just joining in the broadcast I repeat what we saw earlier as we arrived on scene that the FBI had placed someone in the back of one of their SUV's and while we don't have confirmation, we believe it is Carrie Blackwell, the principal of Winslow High School. The school district Superintendent was seen arriving at the school just before the person was placed in the SUV. We have footage of two juveniles being placed in police cars and driven off," The camera now switched to recorded footage of two teenagers being put in police cars but they'd blurred out their heads so it was difficult to identify who they were, but Danny had an idea and he smiled as he realized that things had swiftly changed.
Danny and Susan watched as the TV was showing the reporter outside Winslow again and she waited a few seconds then resumed, "again we know of at least three arrests and we're starting to see FBI agents removing boxes of evidence from the school. Wait, my colleagues that are near me are telling me that two people are coming from the school towards us, let's see what is about to happen."
The news anchors commented that it looked like they were about to find out some information as the camera showed a man with black hair in a suit and a woman in a suit as well that Danny recognized as the woman detective that had come to his house were walking out from the front doors of the school towards the group of reporters that were not gathering closer together so they could hear what the man had to say.
The man gestured for quiet and announced, "My name is Sam Sheppard and I am the Special Agent assigned to this investigation. I will not be taking any questions. I am announcing that we are conducting a joint investigation with the Brockton Bay Police Department into an incident that took place here at the school on January third of this year. I can say that the investigation is still ongoing and we have made some arrests here at the school and that we are most likely going to be making further arrests before the day is over. Now, during the course of today's investigation, a medical situation has arisen that is severe enough that I have invoked a quarantine of the entire school and staff and have contacted the CDC and New Wave for the assistance of Panacea to deal with this situation. The CDC and medical resources from local hospitals have arrived and we are currently awaiting for New Wave and Panacea to arrive. That's all I have to say. Thank you."
The woman spoke next. "Hello, I am Detective Kim Voight of the Brockton Bay Police Department. I will not be answering any questions, just to say that I am the lead detective assigned to the case and I've been working with Special Agent Sheppard on this case. More information will be coming from either the Media Liaison or from more senior department officials later today, thank you."
The detective and the FBI agent both turned and walked away, heading back towards the school, ignoring the shouted questions from the many reporters.
Tanya Sinclair turned away and moved back to her spot where she had been standing and her cameraperson was on top of their game as they kept the camera on Tanya. Taking a second to catch her breath Tanya began, "Well, we have just received word from the FBI and one of our city's detectives that they are working jointly on this case. Here's what we know: This investigative reporter received information…"
Danny turned around and went back to his office. This was very interesting. He didn't have a TV in his office but he did have the internet so once he was back sitting on his chair he loaded up the local ABC7 web site and sure enough there was a stream broadcast of what was going on at Winslow high school. He could listen to the audio while doing his work and if something sounded interesting, he could switch over and watch the stream.
Danny brought up the work he was doing on the computer while listening to what was happening. As he listened to the news reporters speculations and some actual facts he got the thought to call Taylor and see if she was watching the news. He picked up the phone and dialed home.
The phone was answered on the sixth ring. Danny's heart had started to beat faster when Taylor didn't answer the phone right away but he calmed down when he heard Taylor's voice.
"Hello?", Taylor said.
Danny let out a quick breath and said, "Taylor! Are you alright? Is everything fine over there?"
Taylor replied, "Yeah, everything's fine dad, what's up?"
"Have you turned on the TV? Something's happening at Winslow right now. There's law enforcement crawling all over the place and the news is broadcasting. They're saying that the Principal and two juveniles have been arrested. You should check it out."
Taylor cheerily replied, "Thanks dad, I'll do that right now!"
"I have work to do Taylor so I'll call you later.", Danny said.
"Okay Dad, talk to you soon!"
The call ended and Danny hung up the phone. Returning to his work the intercom chirped again. "Danny, I have Mark from the Bus Driver's Union on line two."
Danny gave a smile. "Thanks Susan."
He picked up the phone and pressed the button to take the call. "Danny Hebert speaking."
"Danny! It's Mark from the Bus Driver's Union. I just wanted to let you know that we're with you Danny, my people will pull their kids out of the schools across the district on Monday and I just spoke to Jeff from the Bus Mechanic's Union and he wanted to pass on the message that they're going to pull their kids from the schools too. We're all with you Danny, especially as the news we're hearing about Winslow this morning."
Danny smiled and said, "Thanks a lot Mark, this is great news."
"We're happy to help, we're with you Danny. Talk to you soon.", Mark said.
Danny hung up the phone. This was great news, the best news and as he listened to the news report that was mostly repeating things already said earlier with very little new information since they were now waiting for the media liaison to make a statement.
Danny picked up the phone and called the extension for the DWA's legal counsel.
"Christian, something's happening at Winslow right now, the police and FBI are all over it the CDC has just shown up.", Danny spoke into the phone.
Danny listened to the voice on the other line and Danny responded, "No, none of the firms were interested in taking my case but, I think this changes things if it's what I suspect."
Danny listened again and replied, "Right, thanks Christian. I'll be sure to do that when those firms start calling."
Danny hung up the phone and returned to work while listening to the news that he was streaming over the internet.
The Hebert House
Taylor was watching the news report over what was happening at Winslow and she had a big smile on her face. After Jaina had finished her tea Taylor had used her powers to return to her normal self. There was a bit of smug satisfaction on Taylor's face as she watched the news broadcast. The Voices were cheering and feeling rather pleased as well.
"Your plan seems to have succeeded Sarah!", Li-Ming's voice chirped.
"Well done! There will be Justice for you Taylor!", Jaina cheered.
Her dad had just called telling her to turn on the TV and check the news that something was happening at Winslow High School. She pretended to be surprised and said she would check it out even though she'd been watching the news broadcast since she'd returned from watching it all unfold in front of her at Winslow.
Taylor watched the news for a long time until the point where the news was mostly repeating itself now as the helicopter picture overhead was shown and the reporter on the scene recapped what had been learned and that they were waiting for a press conference from the media liaison.
Taylor turned off the television and stood up. She said, "Tyrande, you did say you wanted to help by healing the sick and injured, we'll go to Brockton General and you can do that."
Tyrande replied, "That's wonderful Taylor, thank you."
The Voices commented that it was nice of Taylor to do so.
Li Ming added at the end, "Do I get a turn soon?"
Taylor said, "Of course you do. We'll figure something out while we're on the way."
Taylor grabbed her keys and pepper spray and right away Widowmaker said, "You don't really need that, you have us to protect you Taylor."
Sarah commented, "It may still come in handy, at least as a means for Taylor to use it so she can get away long enough to use her power to pull one of us out."
Widowmaker hummed. "Point."
Taylor locked up the house as she exited and made her way to the bus stop. Right away Widowmaker complained, "And is there a reason that Miss Jaina cannot teleport us to the hospital?"
Jaina replied, "Taylor doesn't have an image of the hospital's location in her mind! It's not like the school or the house! I could teleport us into a wall!"
Widowmaker replied, "What kind of a wizard are you!?"
Jaina exclaimed, "I'm a Mage, not a Wizard!"
Li Ming exclaimed at the same time, "Hey! I'm a Wizard!"
Widowmaker snarked, "Same thing! It's magic."
Both Jaina and Li-Ming made sputtering noises. Taylor just took it in stride as she walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop. Twenty minutes later she arrived at the bus stop and was waiting around for the next bus. When the bus arrived she boarded and used her student pass. The bus was about half full but still Taylor moved to the back of the bus to sit down.
After waiting its allotted time, the bus closed the doors and began moving to the next stop on its route.
Winslow High School
The entire high school was on lockdown due to the discovery of the improperly cleaned biohazardous mess that had seeped into the floor and into the wall behind locker 1313, a locker that once belonged to the victim of a most heinous crime, Taylor Hebert. Additional police units had been dispatched and were guarding and blocking all exits to keep students and staff from getting out. A BBPD Incident Command Center had been set up to coordinate the efforts taking place. The CDC had arrived and was setting up a triage and treatment tents. Medical personnel that were from four different hospitals within Brockton Bay were getting briefed about the situation.
Roll calls had been taken and submitted to the office, names of students that were absent were taken down so they could be found and treated if necessary. Teachers were instructed to keep the students in their classrooms and any student needing to use the restrooms was to be escorted to and from the restroom by an adult.
Special Agent Sam Sheppard was now in the BBPD Incident Command Center coordinating the criminal investigation with Detective Kim Voight. The call to New Wave to bring Panacea in had been made and Lady Photon assured him that they would answer the call for help and were on their way.
A radio crackled, "This is Overwatch, New Wave fliers spotted. I can see Lady Photon, Shielder, Laserdream, and Glory Girl carrying Panacea. ETA two mikes."
Special Agent Sheppard picked up his radio and said, "Roger Overwatch, have Panacea directed to the CDC tents, direct the other members of New Wave over to the Command Post so they can be briefed."
"Copy that.", Overwatch replied.
A few minutes later he received word that New Wave was on site. Lady Photon entered the Command Post accompanied by Laserdream, Shielder and Glory Girl and were directed to the small room that was used for planning and conferences. The younger New Wave heroes were a little excited at being present in the vehicle.
Lady Photon tapped Glory Girl on her shoulder and mouthed, "Aura" quietly and the young teen heroine nodded her head.
Special Agent Sheppard offered his hand in handshake to Lady Photon first then shook the hands of the younger hero and heroines. "Lady Photon and New Wave thank you for coming. Where's Brandish, Flashbang, and Manpower?"
Lady Photon replied, "Brandish is unavoidably detained at her work and cannot make it. Manpower and Flashbang are on the way."
The Special Agent nodded then said, "Alright, the reason we asked for New Wave's assistance and specifically Panacea is we have a possible outbreak situation here at the school." He gestured for the group of heroes to sit down which they did with looks of concern. "You and the rest of New Wave will be here to make sure no one escapes the school while Panacea deals with assisting the medical staff to check the students and faculty for signs of infection and of course treating any and all students and staff that are infected."
Lady Photon looked very concerned as she asked, "What sort of outbreak situation are we looking at?"
Special Agent Sheppard was silent for a moment then he took a breath and replied, "Airborne blood borne pathogens." He paused as the New Wave members made faces of disgust. "An incident took place here a couple weeks ago, a student was shoved into their locker filled with blood, used feminine hygiene products that was left to fester over the holiday break. As we were making arrests linked to the crime our CSI people were doing a second examination of the crime scene and they discovered that the school's clean up of the waste...well they didn't do it properly and blood seeped through to the walls and floor and now students and staff were breathing in the pathogens that were allowed to fester."
He looked at Lady Photon and glanced at the younger members, and the younger members were looking a little green as he continued, "We could be facing a huge Hepatitis outbreak at the minimum, but it could be worse. MRSA or septicemia is a distinct possibility. Quite frankly, its a nightmare which is why the CDC is here and we called your team in to bring in Panacea.
Glory Girl had brought her hand to her mouth in shock. She looked at Lady Photon and said, "Ames...Panacea said she'd healed a teenage girl a couple of weeks ago, she said she was in real bad shape. It really made her uncomfortable with what she'd seen."
Shielder and Laserdream were both looking a little green but both waved that they we're okay.
Laserdream said, "That's disgusting."
Special Agent Sheppard cleared his throat. "That would be the victim, careful Glory Girl there are privacy laws here."
Glory Girl nodded her head, "She didn't tell me her name, Amy never tells me patient's names of those she healed. All of us know about HIPAA laws, mom made sure of that." Lady Photon chuckled as Glory Girl stressed the words 'mom made sure'.
The people in the room nodded in approval at hearing that. Special Agent Sheppard said, "So, since the school administration failed in properly cleaning up the biohazardous mess, we have been forced to lockdown the school. We've taken roll and we know which students are absent, follow up to see if they're sick will be done after the lockdown is lifted. The main thing is to focus on the students and staff here. The CDC will handle contact tracing to identify people that may have been exposed. Like I said, all we'd need you for is to help with keeping this lockdown in effect, don't let anyone escape."
Lady Photon looked at the group with her and said, "We can do that. Flashbang and Manpower will be here soon to assist. But, what about the Protectorate? Why haven't they arrived yet?"
Special Agent Sheppard said, "We thank you for coming to assist us. As for the Protectorate, we know that they're sending in some of their people as well. They're dealing with a Ward that has gone rogue so some of their forces are split. I can't talk about that right now, we're here to deal with this situation. So, here's where we'll put you all." The agent began issuing instructions about where he wanted to put the independent hero team.
Just before the group left, Shielder raised his hand and asked, "Who's gone rogue, sir?"
The FBI agent said, "Shadow Stalker. So, if you see her, call it in. We don't think she's coming here but be advised that by now she's armed herself and we consider her to be very dangerous."
Glory Girl punched her fist into her open palm. "I never liked her. It she tries anything…"
Special Agent Sheppard said, "We think she might be infected since she goes to this school in her civilian identity. So, be careful. Approach and handle with caution.
The group of heroes began moving to their assigned positions to support the police and first responders
While New Wave was getting briefed, Amy Dallon the Parahuman heroine known as Panacea had been guided to the CDC command post where what looked to be organized chaos, people were setting things up according to plan. Amy stopped to take a look at what she was seeing. She took a look at the football field and saw tents being set up with cots being laid out in one large tent and another there were chairs for a lot of people to sit and wait around.
Her escort cleared their throat and she muttered an apology and continued walking. She entered the command post and saw several people working. One of them looked up and saw her and smiled at her then walked over. The man was over six feet tall, had light brown hair that was graying at the temples and hazel eyes. He was wearing dark pants, blue dress shirr and a white doctor's lab coat.
"Panacea, thank you and your team for coming so quickly. With your help, we should be able to resolve this lockdown fairly quickly. I'm Doctor Roland McDowell.", the man offered his hand for a handshake.
Amy was all business, she didn't want to be here any longer than she had to. But she remembered what Carol told her about being 'courteous and professional' at all times.
Amy gave PR smile number two and said, "Hello Doctor, what am I here for?"
The doctor led Panacea over to a table and chairs. Another person set two paper cups with coffee on the table along with cream and sugar packets. Panacea quickly grabbed the paper cup and took a sip while Doctor McDowell took the sugar and opened a couple packets, stirred it and took a sip. He sat down and Panacea did the same.
Doctor McDowell began, "Panacea, I did some checking and you healed a female teenage patient on January third of this year that was in septic shock and had a number of blood borne diseases that required your intervention to save the patient's life. This is where the patient had suffered those injuries. The school administration failed its duty to properly clean the scene and now we're looking at airborne blood borne pathogens which most likely have infected a sizable part of the student body and staff."
Panacea's eyes widened as the Doctor explained the situation. She took a long drink from her cup of coffee to steady herself. She thought to herself that this day was going to suck.
Doctor McDowell kept talking, "Based on what we know of the student body, we're anticipating that the freshmen and sophomores may have a higher rate of infection as the juniors and seniors largely don't travel on that side of the school. We've also taken into account the staff members as well. Roll call has been taken, we know which students are absent and the CDC will be handling contact tracing for everyone who's been infected to find out if they may have infected anyone else. Given the severity of the outbreak possibility, the Director of the CDC is calling on Watchdog to backstop the information we receive."
The man paused to take a drink of his coffee then said, "So, here's what's going to happen. We'll start with the freshmen classes first then move on to the sophomore classes followed by the juniors and senior classes afterwards. That includes the staff as well. You'll examine and treat those that are infected and report each disease that each person is infected with to the nurse or medical person that will be with you. From there the now cleared person will talk with someone else to do the contact tracing to identify any other possible infected people."
Panacea took another drink of her coffee that was almost gone. She sighed and looked at the doctor. "So, what's the protocol, do I ask them if they want to be healed like I would normally?"
Doctor McDowell shook his head. "No, under this circumstance you don't have to ask for approval, we are trying to prevent an outbreak from spreading. So in this case, the government is taking steps to protect them. The greater good comes into effect here so you don't have to ask their permission, just report to the people working with you if whether or not the patients are infected and if they are, which diseases are they carrying. The contact tracers will take over from there and find out if they may have infected someone else."
Panacea asked one more question, "And if someone tries to resist?"
Doctor McDowell sighed. "Yeah, you're right there are some idiots like that but I doubt you're going to run into that situation considering that teenagers don't want to be sick. The adults however...there will be security...law enforcement nearby to assist you and they'll be very close to you if necessary."
Panacea nodded and responded, "Could Glory Girl be near me just in case?"
The man shook his head, "We'll need her to keep people from trying to escape from the lockdown given her ability to fly. She'll be out there on the field along with your cousins."
With a sigh Panacea said, "I understand. So, once this is done, what happens next?"
Doctor McDowell replied, "After we've cleared the students and staff here, the CDC people will have identified those that are most likely infected and we'll have directed resources to take those people to local hospitals where you can treat them there."
Panacea said, "Direct them to one or two if you must as I don't want to have to go to multiple hospitals. I do have healing permissions at all the city's hospitals, I prefer Brockton General and Brockton Regional."
The man nodded, "That shouldn't be a problem."
The doctor finished giving the briefing to Panacea and told to stand by as they finished with the set up of triage and treatment areas. Panacea found the coffee maker and poured another serving into her now empty paper cup. She took a sip and sighed. At least the coffee was decent. She watched the men and women finish setting things up which took another thirty minutes.
Then Doctor McDowell returned and said, "We're ready to get started, we're having the office staff as well as the first freshmen classes over."
Panacea nodded and followed the man where he led her to a group of people. With a gesture towards the group Doctor McDowell said, "Panacea, this is your first group of CDC and other medical staff that will be working with you. As you clear people that are infected they'll handle talking to them to find out if they may have infected anyone else." Doctor McDowell explained how things would proceed and guided the group to the first treatment tent that had fifty cots set up.
"Alright people, we're about to start, is everyone ready?", Doctor McDowell asked into a hand held radio.
People started radioing in their status and it looked like everyone was ready to proceed. Satisfied, Doctor McDowell radioed, "Send in the first group to the triage area."
Amy sighed as she looked at the watch on her wrist. This day was going to suck.
Once the briefing with New Wave had been completed Special Agent Sam Sheppard walked over to a part of the command center where Detective Kim Voight was hard at work looking things over. There were boxes marked with Emma Barnes, Madison Clements, Sophia Hess. In each box was evidence that had been taken from the young teenage girls' lockers and person. The big prize in the evidence bags were the cell phones of Emma Barnes and Madison Clements. The box that didn't have very much that was from Sophia Hess's locker but now that they knew she was Shadow Stalker they were going to see if the teenager hid anything in the wall behind her locker or even in the floor.
Kim looked up at Sam and said, "Sam, the team hit the Barnes and Clements houses with search warrants already. Then we had to send another team to both houses because the family might be infected. We'll need to have Panacea look them over."
Sam was looking at the evidence gathered and made a grunt. "That's good. Are they done at Hess's apartment?"
Kim nodded her head, "Almost, the team's going through with a scanner since we just found out that she's Shadow Stalker."
The FBI agent gave a hum in response then asked, "We have people using a scanner at Sophia's lockers?"
Kim took a drink of her coffee and made a face as she looked at it, apparently it had gone cold. She set it down then replied, "Yeah, we will. The tech team's going to go back in soon and check both of Sophia's lockers and around the area."
Sam checked his cell phone and saw it had notifications from the Special Agent in Charge. Looking up at her he said, "Have them do sweep around the Barnes girl and Clements's lockers as well. Maybe they let Sophia use their lockers to hide things in the walls behind their lockers too."
"Will do.", Kim picked up a radio and contacted the tech team and gave them the additional orders.
"Another thing," Sam said. He motioned with his hand in the school's direction. "Make sure we have a hazmat cleaning crew to properly clean that filth the janitor failed to do."
Kim nodded her head and said, "The District Superintendent already made the call from the school office. They should be here in another hour or so."
Sam expressed a look of being satisfied then asked, "What about Hess's family?"
"We have people in the field to bring them in but...I think the PRT may have taken the mother and Hess's siblings into protective custody already."
Sam was about to leave and check on his team investigating the Principal and school staff when he turned to ask, "Where's your partner?"
Kim looked up and replied, "Out on a smoke break. He should be back soon."
"Gotcha. Let me know if you need anything." Sam left the room and went to another room where a couple of FBI agents were working on laptops and paperwork. One of the agents, a middle aged woman looked up and gestured for him to take a look at something.
"Sam, I think I found something. Looks like the Principal's administrative assistant has been helping herself to some of the PRT and school's general funds as well."
Sam walked over and looked over the agent's shoulder. "Is that right? Show me."
The woman began detailing what she'd found and Sam asked questions which were answered. With a nod of his head Sam said, "Good work, go ahead and bring her in for questioning."
There was a lot of work to do. Special Agent Sheppard did not expect this day to go like this. Another agent looked up at Sam and said, "Sir, the PRT has called multiple times, the Director wants to speak to the agent in charge."
Sam sighed, "And that's me since Frank's still at Concord. Right, I'll call her right now."
Sam picked up his cell phone and dialed the PRT number. "This is FBI Special Agent Sam Sheppard, I'm the primary at Winslow High School, I need to speak to Director Piggot, I'm told she's expecting my call."
A few seconds later he heard the voice of the PRT-ENE Director in his ear and she was not pleased.
The Barnes House
Zoe Barnes was a work from home parent running a food consulting company that worked with restaurants to improve their business. She was getting started with her work day in the office she shared with her husband and was surprised to hear the doorbell ring followed by a loud pounding on the door.
Zoe left the office as the doorbell rang again followed by pounding on the door again. This time it was accompanied by a voice saying, "This is the FBI, open the door! We have a search warrant!"
Really confused, Zoe looked through the peep hole and saw uniformed police officers and men and women in suits with blue jackets. Zoe opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Excuse me, what's going on here? I think you have the wrong house."
The person standing right in front was a woman in a suit with a dark blue jacket that had the words FBI on the left side. "Ma'am, I'm Special Agent Maxine Smart of the FBI, we have a search warrant." She held a sheet of paper towards Zoe Barnes. "Please step aside and point out where Emma Barnes's room is."
Zoe was looking at the paper and it was indeed a search warrant and it said that they were looking for Emma's devices, journals and other items. Zoe stepped to the side and the men and women entered the house and the lead special agent said, "Ma'am, where is Emma Barnes's room?"
Shaken out of her shock and surprise, she looked at the agent and stammered while pointing, "It-it-it's up-up-upstairs, first door...on the left."
Three people with PPE masks and gloves walked up the stairs and entered into Emma's room and the lead agent took notice of Zoe's skin turning pale and sweat beads appearing on her forehead said, "Ma'am, you don't look so good, come with me and have a seat."
Zoe shakily walked over while being helped by the agent to sit on the couch by the door and the agent directed another person to get Zoe a glass of water.
Special Agent Smart said, "Ma'am, is there anything of Emma's elsewhere in the house?"
Zoe shook her head and quietly said, "No.", she took a drink of water and closed her eyes to get the room to stop spinning.
After composing herself she opened her eyes, looked at the Special Agent sitting next to her and she asked, "Why is the FBI searching my daughter's room?"
An agent returned with a glass of water for Zoe who took it and drank some of it as the agent in charge answered her question.
The dark haired Special Agent replied, "Ma'am, your daughter has been arrested at Winslow High School this morning in connection with the incident that took place on January third of this year."
Zoe was shocked, "What?! Emma's arrested!?" Zoe looked confused now as she said, "Wait...wait...what incident on January third?"
Special Agent Smart said, "Ma'am, your daughter was arrested in connection with the bioterrorism incident that took place at Winslow High School on January third. She and two coconspirators filled a locker with biohazardous waste and shoved a classmate into the locker and left that person inside for hours. You really should call your husband."
Zoe nodded her head and pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed her husband's cell phone and growled when it went to voice mail. She disconnected and dialed his direct office line which was answered by his executive assistant.
"Alan Barnes office, this is Stacy."
"Stacy, it's Zoe, is Alan in his office? It's very urgent I speak with him."
"Yes he is, he didn't answer your phone call I take it, I'll transfer you over."
"Thanks, Stacy."
The phone started ringing again and her husband answered the call. "Zoe, I'm sorry I missed your call, I'm in the middle of this-"
Zoe interrupted her husband and said, "Alan...come home now. The FBI are here, they're searching Emma's room and they're saying that they arrested Emma at school!"
The line was quiet. Zoe questioned, "Alan? Alan?! Alan, are you still there?!"
Alan stammered, "Y-ye-yes...Zoe. What?! Emma's been arrested?! What are you talking about!?"
Tears were falling down Zoe's face as she said, "Th-the FBI arrested Emma at school! Al-Alan, come home, please!"
"Zoe, I...I...I'm in the middle of work right now! I'm in the middle of this very important case-"
Zoe couldn't believe it. Their daughter was arrested and her husband was actually telling her that whatever he was doing was more important?! Oh Hell No. Gripping the phone tighter, imagining it was his neck, she raised her voice slightly and spoke in a cold tone, "What?! You actually consider what you're doing right now more important than our daughter!? I can't believe you're saying what you're saying right now! Get your ass home NOW!"
There was a few seconds of silence and Alan finally said, "I-I-I'm on my way. I'll be there as fast as I can, I have to get someone to take over for me before I can leave. Don't answer any questions Zoe, tell them you want to speak to an attorney."
Zoe answered with a simple, "Okay."
Alan hung up the call and Zoe ended the call on her cell. Then she looked at Special Agent Smart and said, "I'm informing you that my husband has instructed me to request an attorney present for any questioning and that my husband is on his way home now."
Special Agent Smart nodded her head saying, "I understand. Arrangements will be made for you, your husband, and your older daughter to come in for questioning. We'll be here for a little while longer, making sure we didn't miss anything. But I expect that we'll be leaving soon."
Zoe had seen the FBI agents take Emma's laptop and her tablet among other things from Emma's bedroom and they were checking to make sure they hadn't missed anything.
There was a faint cry of "Oh my God!" followed by a thump and the same voice saying, "I'm okay, I'm okay! Just got surprised! Get me another box!"
An agent moved down the steps and went outside and seconds later ran back up with an open box.
Zoe asked, "Where is my daughter being held?"
Special Agent Smart replied, "Right now, she's at the twenty fourth precinct. She'll be moved into Federal custody later."
"By Federal custody you mean?", Zoe asked.
Special Agent Smart answered, "Concord. She'll be transported to Federal holding in Concord."
Two agents that went into Emma's room were coming down the stairs again, this time holding the box that had been brought up to Emma's room and inside the box a black garbage bag could be seen.
One of the agents said, "You're not going to believe what's inside this bag, it's disgusting."
Special Agent Smart made a face at the comment then silently nodded before she said, "Good work, bag it and tag it with everything else."
Zoe looked confused at the conversation and at the sight of the box. Then she looked at Special Agent Smart and asked, "May I ask what the charges that Emma has been arrested for?"
"Formal charges are pending, but I can say that her initial charges are bioterrorism, kidnapping, attempted murder, forced confinement, just to name a few. The Brockton Bay District Attorney's office will be filing separate charges."
Zoe was shocked. Her face went pale and she stammered, "Wh-wha-what!? Th-that's...that's not possible!"
"I'm afraid so ma'am. She's one of the three suspects in the incident that took place on January third at the school."
Zoe tried to remember what if anything had happened and for the life of her could not remember anything serious happening at Winslow High. Her daughter would tell her when there were gang fights at the school, but Emma had not said anything like that had happened at all.
Zoe had been strongly leaning towards pulling Emma out of Winslow as the school year progressed and was going to talk to Alan about pulling Emma out and getting her into a different school. Now, it looked like that was not going to happen. Zoe asked if she could go to the kitchen and she was allowed where she was able to make a cup of coffee.
Special Agent Smart said, "That's fine ma'am we're almost done."
The FBI agents did a sweep of the house to make sure that they didn't miss anything and reported that they were finished searching, taking the evidence that they'd collected. A record sheet detailing what was taken was given to Zoe and the FBI agents left the house.
Special Agent Smart passed a business card over to her. "We'll be in touch to arrange questioning. Most likely later today."
Zoe nodded her head and Special Agent Smart left the house, got into her car and left with the rest of the FBI agents as several black sedans and police cars drove away.
About twenty minutes after the FBI had left, Alan arrived back home, parking his car in a hurry on the driveway, it was crooked, not parked straight as he normally would park his car.
He quickly got out of the car and rushed inside the house. Within a minute, neighbors could hear a screaming match between husband and wife.
During the argument that was still ongoing more than thirty minutes later, an ambulance, police car, and a black sedan pulled up to the house.
Director Piggot's SUV
En Route to PRT HQ
It was an ordinary morning for Director Emily Piggot who was in a unmarked black SUV, sitting in the back seat of the vehicle looking over paperwork as she was being driven into the PRT HQ building downtown. She checked her watch and saw that she should be arriving at the office on time since traffic was cooperating for once. Her driver was very good, competent, and he acted as her security detail since she was the PRT Director for the city of Brockton Bay and the rest of the East North East region. She was looking over another sterile report written by Armsmaster which also acted as his request for more funding. She frowned when her cell phone rang.
She answered with a growl, "What is it that is so important Barry that you have to call me on my way in? I'm fifteen minutes out."
Her Deputy Director Barry Rennick was more than a little excited as he answered, "Ma'am, something's going on. Actually, a whole lot of something is going on. The FBI and BBPD are at Winslow High School and have made arrests, BBPD arrested Sophia Hess at her home but she escaped from custody using her powers. They figured out real quick that Sophia's Shadow Stalker at that moment and we've been alerted by BBPD that Shadow Stalker's gone rogue and they've requested PRT and Protectorate assistance in bringing her into custody. The media is already showing up at the school and I've been told that they're going to be at our front doors very soon asking questions."
Emily's eyes widened and she snarled, "What?! Why was Shadow Stalker arrested in her civilian ID?! What is going on at Winslow!?"
Her deputy stammered, "I-I-I don't know ma'am."
She growled to her driver to get her to the office now. Immediately the driver turned on the emergency lights and siren and the car increased speed.
"I want Sophia's handler in my office when I get there!", Emily growled.
"Yes ma'am.", Deputy Director Rennick replied.
Eight minutes later Director Emily Piggot walked as fast as she could in a great deal of pain into her office with Deputy Director Rennick close behind. Anger was evident in her face as well as her body language. Sitting in her office chair with a grunt and a growl she looked up at her Deputy Director and said in a very loud voice that could be heard through half of the administrative floor.
"What the fuck is going on at Winslow High School?! Why was Shadow Stalker arrested in her civilian ID on her way to school!? Why is the fucking media parked in the front of my building!? Who do we have out there looking for Shadow Stalker?! Have you contacted the FBI and BBPD about what's going on?! Finally, where the fuck is Hess's handler!? I didn't see her waiting outside my office when I got here! I want answers Barry!" Emily slammed both hands on her desk at the end.
Deputy Director Barry Rennick sighed internally. This was a complete clusterfuck of a morning. Bringing his tablet up he looked at the itemized list that he'd prepared before his boss's arrival and began talking.
"Ma'am, we have put the call out for Agent Jefferson to report to your office but she has not responded and we're conducting a search for her on the premises."
Emily looked up in disbelief. "What?! She should be on duty already!"
Barry nodded his head, "Yes ma'am but apparently when we got the call from BBPD that Sophia had escaped from custody, Agent Jefferson apparently left the building and she is not responding to calls, texts, or emails to report back in."
Emily growled, "Find her. Now! Send a team to her house!"
Barry said, "Already being done ma'am."
Emily snarled, "Have you pinged her phones, her PRT and personal?"
There was a notification chime on Barry's tablet. He read the message and blanched then he looked up and said, "Uh, ma'am...they just found her civilian and PRT issued phone in the trash on the garage level."
Another notification chime on his tablet sounded and he looked at the message. "Looks like the team just missed Agent Jefferson at the house, there's evidence and signs that she grabbed a go bag and her neighbors are saying she drove away ten minutes ago."
Emily's look of disbelief stayed on her face which turned into a scowl. "I want a APB for Agent Jefferson now! Get her car, her picture, everything on her to the border crossing, bus stations, train stations, and airports! Flag her passport, flag her credentials! I want her found, and I want her in custody immediately! I want a warrant for Agent Jefferson's financials yesterday and get someone from Forensic Accounting to start going over her financials with a fine tooth comb! Start searching her work area, have the team at her house secure it and wait for a warrant. I don't want her escaping on any kind of technicality."
Barry nodded his head and began tapping on his tablet. "Right away ma'am!"
Emily was looking at a camera feed of the front of the building and saw news vans parked out in the street and reporters were coming out with camera crews. She looked at Barry and said, "The only thing we are going to say right now to the media is that we have no comment at this time. That's it."
Barry nodded his head and said, "Understood ma'am."
Emily was furious and it was taking everything she had to refrain from pulling open her drawer and grabbing the bottle of thirty year old scotch out and start drinking from the bottle. She gestured, "Go ahead with the rest of your report, Barry."
Barry cleared his throat and began, "I've been able to learn that this morning the FBI and BBPD raided Winslow High School to arrest two students that were already on campus and the third was Sophia Hess in connection with an incident that took place on January third."
Emily held up a hand to indicate for him to stop. "What incident on January third?"
Barry looked down at the tablet then back at Director Piggot and replied, "A student was shoved into her locker that had been filled with…" he paused as he looked at the text again because he couldn't believe what he saw. Then he continued, "...feminine hygiene products and blood that had been left to fester over the holiday break. The victim was left in their locker for multiple hours before being discovered by the janitor and was taken to Brockton General for treatment where Panacea was needed to save the victim's life." He made a face of disgust then commented, "Geezus, I can't believe that someone could do something like that."
Director Emily Piggot was making her own face of disgust at that bit of news. "How is Shadow Stalker's civilian ID is linked to this?"
"Apparently she is named as one of the suspects by the victim, specifically the one who pushed the victim into the locker. The other two, an Emma Barnes and a Madison Clements are named as being behind and participating in the incident. I did some checking and while BBPD was investigating, once Sophia's name came up, Agent Jefferson took it upon herself to take the investigation away from BBPD claiming PRT jurisdiction."
Emily was drumming her fingers on the desk as she took In Barry's report. "She took the investigation away from BBPD? Just because Shadow Stalker's civilian name came up? Well, what did her investigation turn up?"
Barry cleared his throat then replied, "Nothing ma'am. What we have so far indicates she closed the investigation without doing anything immediately after she received the case from BBPD."
Emily looked even more angry. Barry was afraid she might actually collapse into an apoplectic fit and die as she fought to bring her temper under control. "If she took the investigation away it's clear they didn't stop and somehow they got the FBI involved. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions."
Emily stewed in thought for a moment then she growled at Barry. "Who is pursuing Shadow Stalker?"
Barry quickly replied, "Armsmaster, Velocity, and Miss Militia as well as PRT Squad Seven are looking for Sophia. They are responding to the scene where she used her powers to phase through the police cruiser that was bringing her in. A perimeter's being set up by BBPD, our troopers will be handling the search."
Emily drummed her fingers on the desk. Then she looked at Barry and said, "Dispatch another squad of troopers to assist Armsmaster, we need to get that little bitch into custody. Also, get some people to pick up Sophia's mother and siblings, we need them in protective custody immediately!"
Barry nodded, "Right away ma'am." He typed on the tablet then said, "I have agents on their way to Misses Hess's place of employment, and another team going to the daycare and elementary school to pick up the Sophia's brother and sister."
"Good.", Emily said.
Emily nodded then said, "Alright this is too much, let's move this to the Ops Center." She pushed a button on her desk that sent an alarm through the building that would alert those personnel to report to the Ops Center immediately and bring it online. With that done, she stood up with a growl and grimace of pain then started moving out of her office with her deputy director right behind her. They made a short journey to the PRT's Ops Center which was the PRT's command and control center for dealing with a major situation.
Emily swiped her badge to grant her access to the secure room and was pleased to see that people were taking their stations, bringing the Ops Center online. More and more people were coming in and Emily began issuing orders.
Emily ordered, "I want a sitrep on the search for Shadow Stalker, if Armsmaster wants more resources to bring her in, give them to him. Next, I want to talk to the FBI Agent in charge over at Winslow, get a line to that person or at the least get me someone at BBPD on the scene at Winslow. I want to know what's going on!"
By the time Emily had finished issuing her orders the room was fully staffed. Several monitors had been switched to the local news.
Then another notification chirped from Barry's tablet. His face paled and he looked at Director Piggot. "They're locking down the school and putting a medical quarantine. A possible outbreak situation has been declared and a call to the CDC is going out."
Emily stared at Barry. "I want Assault and Battery sent to Winslow now, we'll keep Triumph in reserve. Where are the rest of the Wards?"
Barry replied, "They've been called in and are on their way. They should all be here within the next ten minutes or so."
Emily said, "I want them on stand by when they get here."
"Yes ma'am.", Barry replied.
"Armsmaster is on the line for you ma'am.", one of the PRT workers manning a station announced.
Emily donned a hands free comm unit and activated it. "Armsmaster, report please." Emily ordered.
"Director, my team has set up a perimeter and BBPD units are assisting with keeping the civilians indoors while we perform our search for Shadow Stalker. She's gotten a good head start but I'm confident we'll have her in custody soon."
Emily responded, "Don't allow yourself and the team to be overconfident, she's had proper training, she knows our playbook, so she's going to use everything she's learned against you and your team. I've dispatched another squad to assist, they're on the way and will link up with Squad Seven. Tell your people to be careful, she's to be considered hostile and she may have obtained a weapon."
"Yes, Director.", Armsmaster replied.
Emily ordered, "Keep me posted."
"Yes, Director.", Armsmaster replied.
Emily disconnected the communication.
The worker assigned to communications was being kept busy and they announced, "Ma'am, I have the senior FBI agent at Winslow on the line."
Emily let out a breath saying, "Finally! I'll take it." She pushed her commendation unit and got on the line. "This is Director Emily Piggot, who am I speaking with?"
The voice on the other line replied, "I'm Special Agent Sam Sheppard, Director. How can I help you?"
Taking a calming breath Emily replied, "Are you the Special Agent In Charge?"
"No ma'am, he's still in Concord coordinating everything, I have the scene currently.", replied Special Agent Sheppard.
"I see. Can you explain to me why the FBI is conducting an operation with the BBPD, why the BBPD have attempted to arrest one of my Wards in their civilian ID, and why you've ordered a medical quarantine of the school?"
"The FBI and BBPD both received an anonymous email tip and it was decided that both our agencies would join forces. Together we're making arrests into multiple crimes here at Winslow High, one is the incident that took place on January third here at this school. I have two juveniles in custody and the third one who escaped we've discovered that they're a Parahuman….a Ward to be precise given the powers they used to escape. I can assure you, we had no idea she was a Ward until we heard the radio report that she'd escaped. At any rate, your Ward is suspected of being involved in the January third incident as well and given that she's escaped from custody is not looking good towards her innocence."
"The second crime we're investigating is financial crimes linked into embezzlement of federal funds, specifically the monies that the PRT has been sending to Winslow High School and we've made one arrest so far and we think there's at least one accomplice here at the school and another party outside the school involved in that crime. As for the medical quarantine…."
The man paused to take a breath then continued, "We've discovered that the school administration did not properly clean the crime scene from January third and that has resulted in airborne blood borne pathogens to spread, which means I have students and staff infected with anything from one or more Hepatitis diseases to MRSA and anything in between. That's why I've ordered the medical quarantine. I've called New Wave and asked for Panacea to assist with this so we can bring this situation under control quickly."
Emily muted her microphone and swore. Then she unmuted her microphone and said, "I see."
"Director Piggot, it appears one of your young Parahuman's gone rogue, are you going to be able to bring her into custody fairly quickly?", the FBI agent asked.
Emily made a face then she replied, "I have Armsmaster leading the chase to bring her in, I'm confident he'll bring her into custody. Give me the charges she's going to be facing and we'll deal with punishing her."
Special Agent Sheppard said, "That's going to be a meeting with the Assistant US Attorney ma'am, he's looking at charging these suspects with bioterrorism charges just for starters."
"Bioterrorism?! Isn't that-", Emily was cut off as she started to protest.
Special Agent Sheppard's voice was harsh, "Madam Director, the victim was forcibly confined inside their locker for hours in filth that makes my skin crawl and now that I'm having to medically quarantine this school and call in Panacea to bring this under control before it explodes, yes those three suspects are facing Federal bioterrorism charges as well as everything else that the AUSA decides to hit them with. Then there's the Brockton Bay District Attorney. I can tell he's going to want to take his pound of flesh out of these people too. There's no saving your rogue Ward, she's going to prison, a Federal prison."
Emily scowled then she asked, "What led you to make these arrests?"
"As I said, we received an anonymous email that had incriminating evidence in that email. My investigation was initially focused on unusual financial activity with regards to PRT funds being possible embezzled by the school principal."
Emily's eyebrows shot upwards and her eyes widened. Meanwhile Special Agent Sheppard was still talking.
"But, in addition to that tip the email described a crime that was horrendous and the Special Agent in Charge decided to pursue the suspects for bioterrorism and other charges and pursue the Principal for embezzlement of Federal funds. The email was shown to have been sent not just to the FBI office here in Concord but to Detective Kim Voight of the BBPD and several investigative reporters at ABC, NBC and CBS news. Given what we had, we reached out to the BBPD and joined forces."
"My team and I focused on the corruption, BBPD took on the bioterrorism but it's a joint case and we we found corroborating evidence and we made the move to initiate the arrests this morning. If we'd delayed, the media would have ruined the surprise as they showed up at Winslow very quick, a lot quicker than I expected."
Emily was furious. She muted her microphone and cursed quietly then turned her microphone back on.
Special Agent Sheppard spoke again before Emily could say anything. "Listen Director, I have a lot on my plate, I've been informed from my boss that we're going to give your people time to bring in your rogue Ward but if you don't have her in custody by the end of the day, the Special Agent in Charge will be making a call to bring in the Special Response Team and they'll bring your problem child in."
Emily snapped, "Now see here! Parahumans are our remit, when one of our own goes rogue, we bring them in! The FBI-"
"You've got a cancer in your department, Director. Forgive me if we feel that you may not be up to the task. However, in the spirit of inter agency cooperation, we're holding off on bringing in the SRT. Hopefully you can do it before the end of the day. Oh, and Director, one last thing; there's a very good chance your rogue Ward's very sick and doesn't realize it. You might want to have your Wards and anyone she's been in contact with checked for infection. So, make sure your people take the necessary precautions when your people bring her in. I have to go."
The agent ended the call.
Emily clenched her teeth and growled. "Son of a bitch!", Emily exclaimed. "Barry! Contact the infirmary and tell them we're sending the Wards to have their blood drawn for infectious diseases. Have all the Wards that are here report to the infirmary for that testing immediately." She glared at Barry and asked, "All the Wards are here, yes?"
Nodding his head with emphasis saying, "Yes ma'am, all the Wards are on site, they're in the Wards area suiting up and getting ready for deployment. Why do you want the infirmary to draw their blood?"
Growling, Emily replied, "Because Shadow Stalker may be infected with whatever the fuck's been spreading at Winslow High School and if she's infected she may have infected the rest of her teammates! Get it done and tell the lab I want those tests rushed against all blood borne pathogens!" Then she slammed the table she was standing in front of. "Shit! Panacea's busy dealing with that clusterfuck at the school, she can't come here to heal anyone! Find out if any of our Wards are sick then we'll need to start contact tracing at once!"
Barry contacted the infirmary then because teenagers and being poked by needles by men and women in white coats is never a fun thing, he sent a couple of PRT agents that the Wards were comfortable with to give them the news and make sure that the blood draw was done.
While Barry was dealing with this task, Emily activated her headset and called to Armsmaster. "Armsmaster, this is Director Piggot. Come in, over."
Armsmaster responded right away. "Go for Armsmaster."
Emily said, "Armsmaster be advised that SS may be infected with an infectious disease. You and everyone under your command are to take all necessary precautions when bringing SS into custody."
Armsmaster was silent for three seconds then replied, "Understood. Thanks for the warning, I'll pass on the warning to everyone at once."
Emily said, "Good. Be advised that the FBI is giving us time to bring her in ourselves, you need to bring her in by end of day or the FBI will deploy the Special Response Team. I do not want that team in my city, so you find her and bring her in pronto! Director Piggot, out."
She cut the call and continued to scowl as she was watching the various video feeds. Just when she thought that the day couldn't get any worse she heard the words that she didn't want to hear yet.
"Director, Chief Director Costa-Brown is on the line for you."
Emily cursed. "Tell her I'm busy and that I'll call her back when I have something to tell her."
There was a brief pause and then, "She said she wants to speak with you now, ma'am."
Emily cursed again, a longer stream of expletives this time around.
"Fine.", she growled. She tapped her headset and greeted her boss in as cordial voice as possible. "Good morning Chief Director." She wanted to get through this conversation speaking as little as necessary.
The Chief Director's voice was harsh, "Director Piggot, what is going on in your city? Why is the FBI conducting a joint operation with the BBPD at one of your schools? Why is a medical quarantine happening over there? What's this news that it's linked to a Ward that has gone rogue?"
Emily said, "Chief Director, I'm still getting up to speed as to what is happening, the FBI didn't inform me of any raid taking place, nor did the BBPD. As for the rogue Ward...it's Shadow Stalker….we're just getting the information. Apparently she's linked into an incident that took place at the school back on the third of January."
"Explain.", was the curt response.
Emily took a breath then started, "We've found out that Shadow Stalker's civilian ID is linked with two other juvenile civilians who've been arrested by the Feds. BBPD was picking up Shadow Stalker in her civilian ID but she escaped, revealing her Parahuman status. I have Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Velocity along with two PRT squads conducting the search for her now."
There was a pause then the Chief Director said, "Have you been watching the media? They're all over this and they've come very close to identifying Shadow Stalker's ID but haven't because of the law against outing Protectorate Heroes. It's not going to take someone who does some digging to find out who the media's talking about. Haven't you been paying attention to the news?!"
Emily replied, "No, Chief Director I have not, I have been trying to respond to bringing in a Ward gone rogue, a medical quarantine situation at one of the city's larger high schools which also happens to be the biggest gang recruitment site in the city to sit and watch television news anchors blather on. I've told my people to tell the media 'No comment' until we have more information and we've gotten control of the situation."
Her boss didn't sound pleased. Rebecca Costa-Brown responded, "Director Piggot, your problem with your Ward is just the tip of the iceberg. The media is aware of corruption linked with our rogue Ward. Have you spoken to her handler?"
Emily scowled, she wanted this conversation to be over already. "Agent Jefferson has gone off the reservation, she dumped her phones in the trash, left the premises, returned to her home, and left very quickly. I have an APB out for her arrest, her credentials and passport have been red flagged."
Rebecca's voice was cold. "One of our agent's has gone rogue as well? The agent responsible for keeping Shadow Stalker in line has gone rogue? Emily, these reports are not filling me with confidence in your performance. Get this situation under control."
Emily took note of the unsaid "or else" at the end of the Chief Director's statement. There was a click and she knew the call was over.
Emily snarled, "Tell Armsmaster to get that little bitch in cuffs pronto, and I want an update from Winslow on the quarantine!"
The personnel were doing their best to get the Director informed.
Medhall Building
Downtown Brockton Bay
The Office of Max Anders, CEO
Max Anders had received the call on his way to work that the FBI and BBPD were hitting Winslow High School and the Empire leadership were asking for instructions. He quickly gave the word that no one was to do anything. He had James making discreet inquires to find out why the FBI and BBPD were at the school.
Now in his office, the CEO of Medhall had three television monitors on the three major network news stations as he worked at his desk. There was a vibration that he felt next to his chest as Max felt his other cell phone, the one that was for Empire matters vibrate. Taking the device out to take a look, he saw a text message from James, his Lieutenant.
JF: CDC just arrived, there was brief announcement by FBI that the school is being medically quarantined. Panacea and New Wave en route.
Max typed a reply, Keep me posted, I want no one doing anything that will cause the Feds to stay here any longer than necessary. I mean it. Anyone steps out of line, they'll wish that the Feds arrested them.
JF: Understood.
Max put the phone back inside his hidden pocket then returned to his work. There were several business proposals that he had to look over as well as the latest financial numbers on their research and development on the latest cancer fighting drugs. Even as he was work, he had an eye and ear on the news to find out what was going on at Winslow High School.
Ruby Dreams Casino
Casino Manager's Office
Brockton Bay Outskirts
Just outside the outskirts of Brockton Bay was a medium sized casino. The signs marked it as Ruby Dreams and even though it was just after eight in the morning, the parking lot was filling up with the usual gamblers and ordinary people looking to try their luck at the various games of skill and chance.
Inside the casino, in the manager's office a man with visible dragon tattoos was sitting in the manager's chair looking at the casino's numbers while the manager was sitting across from the man in one of the comfortable guest chairs.
The manager was looking a little nervous even though he felt he had no reason to be except for the fact of the man that was sitting in his normal chair was reason enough to be nervous.
The man sitting in the manager's chair was none other than Lung himself, the self proclaimed Dragon of Kyushu, undisputed leader of the ABB otherwise known as the Azian Bad Boyz.
Lung closed the ledger and looked at the manager. After a moment's pause Lung said in Japanese, "The numbers look good. I'm pleased."
In the office with the two men was one of Lung's Lieutenants and the Lieutenant's phone started ringing. Knowing that it had to be an urgent call the Lieutenant answered. "Yes?"
The voice on the other end of the phone call was speaking rapidly in Japanese and the Lieutenant listened then put his hand over the phone speaker. "Lung-sama, there is something happening at Winslow High School, the FBI and BBPD are at the school."
Lung looked up at the Lieutenant and fired a question, "What are the FBI and BBPD doing there?"
The Lieutenant fired the same question into the cell phone and got an answer. "They appear to be arresting some people, not ABB, not Empire, not Merchant."
Lung replied, "They are to keep their eyes open but take no action. They are to report what happens only. Do not bring attention upon themselves. We don't need the FBI's attention at this time."
The Lieutenant nodded his head and bowed. "Yes, Lung-sama." Then he repeated Lung's order to the other person then hung up.
Lung then ordered the Lieutenant, "Have someone check the radio scanners, and call our spies. Find out what they know. Be sure to check the news as well. You will tell me what is going on when I finish with the manager.
"Yes, Lung-sama."
Satisfied, Lung and the casino manager started talking about bringing the revenue numbers up with new marketing promotions. The manager led Lung out of the office to meet with the managers of marketing and promotions to show Lung what they had lined up to bring in new and more business.
An Abandoned Warehouse
Near The Trainyards
Two cell phones were ringing in what was a converted bedroom. Two bodies were passed out on the dirty mattress that was on the floor of the repurposed office. The room was a complete and total dirty mess with trash everywhere, used needles, packets of cocaine and/or heroin waiting for consumption. One of the people in the room, a dark skinned man rolled over and grabbed the two ringing cellphones and tossed them across the room. Then the man rolled back over to grab the dirty blonde haired woman and went back to sleep.
The Skies over Chicago, Illinois
Thomas Calvert was doing something that he really hated to do at this point in his plan to take over the law biding and the criminal underworld of the city of Brockton Bay. Traveling on a business trip for his company Fortress Construction.
Normally he would have delegated someone else to handle this meeting but the deal that his company was looking to close and bring in a lot of money required his presence as CEO. The man he was going to meet with would not tolerate not meeting with Calvert personally and would kill the deal on the spot if he couldn't shake Thomas's hand and look into Thomas's eyes as they talked business. So, here he was flying first class to Chicago to meet with the man.
Thomas was doing some work on his laptop, a notification chime alerting him of something important when the flight attendant announced on the intercom that the plane was making its landing approach into Chicago O'Hare International Airport and all electronic devices had to be turned off at once, seats returned to normal position, seat belts fastened.
Thomas grimaced but shut down the laptop after quickly saving his work. One did not mess with FAA regulations on a plane. If it was really urgent requiring his attention, there were ways to reach him.
Thomas sat back, looked outside the window at the buildings of Chicago as the plane flew overhead and he waited for the plane to land. He checked his expensive watch and saw that they would be landing on time, which meant he would be making the meeting on time. Thomas thought to himself that he really hated meetings, but he loved making money and meetings that would result in his company making hundreds of millions of dollars made him happy indeed.
Brockton Bay General Hospital
Emergency Room Lobby
It was late in the morning when the doors slid open and a striking figure walked into the lobby of the Emergency Room for Brockton Bay General Hospital.
The person was tall, very tall, well over six and a half feet in fact. The figure was female in appearance wearing a long shimmery silky white gown encrusted with what had to be gemstones in the garment. Strapped to the woman's back was a silvery staff with a glowing crescent moon headpiece. The female had pink skin, long thick green hair down to the woman's waist. She had a silvery tiara with gemstones atop her head along with a golden circlet on her forehead. The defining features were the woman's ears and eyes. Very long elongated pointed ears with multiple earrings on each ear lobe and white eyes that seemed to glow. There were tattoos around the woman's eyes as well.
To be blunt, the woman appeared to be an elf, although it was an elf that no one had ever seen before.
The elven woman had stopped at the entrance for a few seconds then moved smoothly, silently as she walked up to the check in desk for the lobby. People pulled out their phones and started taking pictures or video of the person walking in.
The person sitting at the desk looked up at the tall woman and after a moment of stunned silence the woman working at the check in desk asked, "Can I help you?"
The elven woman replied, "I am Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune, leader of my people, the Kaldorei and I would like to help. It is my understanding that here is where people who are injured and sick come for healing. I can heal the sick and injured and would like to offer my aid."
The female employee shook herself out of surprise and said, "I'm sorry but we can't accept your assistance at this time. Parahuman healing needs to be vetted and tested by the PRT. There's a whole process that you have to go through."
The elven woman frowned. She turned to look at the room that was full of people, some obviously with injuries while others were coughing, sniffling, or sneezing. Then she turned to face the employee again. "I am not a Parahuman, I am a Kaldorei, a Night Elf. I am the leader of my people, High Priestess to the Goddess Elune. I can heal all these people for you. I can heal everyone in this...temple...in this hospital."
The woman shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, there are rules and laws that prevent Parahuman healing unless tested and cleared by the PRT. We're dealing with a crisis situation so we're a little short handed otherwise I could ask a Doctor to do some preliminary testing with you but we can't do that today."
Frowning again, the elf was silent then asked, "Where do I go to get this "power testing" done?"
The employee replied, "Downtown, at the PRT building. They'll need to run tests to see precisely what kind of healing you can do and make sure there are no side effects. Then you'll need to fill out forms so that the different hospitals will allow you to perform Parahuman healing."
Tyrande said, "That seems to be inefficient. There are people who are injured and sick here, I can help them right now."
The woman sighed, "Sorry, but you must get approved by the PRT first."
Tyrande looked around and saw the people that were sick and injured. Then she looked at the employee. She turned around and started to walk towards the door and stopped midway. She said, "I offer this as proof that nothing harmful shall happen." Then she raised her arms to the ceiling and cried out, "By the Light of Elune!"
A glowing, golden globe of light expanded outwards from the elven woman and engulfed everyone that was sitting or standing, waiting to be called in to get seen by a doctor and just as quickly the golden light vanished in tiny motes of light, floating up into the ceiling and vanishing.
She raised her arms up to the ceiling again, cried out "By the Light of Elune!" and once more the golden globe of light engulfed everyone around the tall elven woman.
The injured suddenly realized that their injuries were healed the sick people suddenly realized that they were no longer sick.
Tyrande announced, "You have been healed by Tyrande Whisperwind, return to your families and be well. May Elune guide your path." Then she strode out of the lobby and left the building, walking back onto the street.
The employee was stunned into inaction for several seconds and the people having been healed started getting up to leave as they no longer had a reason to be there. This caused the employee to call for security and slammed the button which would lock the sliding doors.
"Security! Some Case 53 just performed untested healing on everyone in the waiting room, we can't let the people go. I need officers here and another team to find the Case 53 now!" The woman hung up the phone and stood up and announced, "Everyone, I'm sorry but you can't leave! The PRT will want to speak to each and every one of you and clear you of any harmful effects."
The people tried to leave and the sliding doors wouldn't open and began to grumble and complain. As this was happening Security officers began to run in from other parts of the hospital and a couple could be seen ouside the sliding doors taking guard positions. The woman picked up the phone and dialed the PRT.
"This is Brockton General, I'm working the ER lobby and we just had an unknown Case 53 Parahuman perform a mass healing that was not authorized. We've sealed the exit to prevent people from leaving but we've got over one hundred people that have been healed and need to be checked."
The voice on the other line responded and the woman answered, "I understand, we'll await their arrival."
A guard reported on the radio that they couldn't find any sign of an elf outside the hospital.
The desk clerk stood up and said in a loud voice, "Can I have everyone's attention please!? The PRT is on their way, they will take everyone's statement and then they will take you to PRT HQ where they can follow up in their investigation and make sure that the unknown Parahuman's healing effect had no side effects."
There were complaints from the crowd and grumblings but security was there to keep the people calm.
Forty five minutes later, a squad of PRT troopers arrived with multiple vans and the people who were healed were taken to the vans and brought to the PRT building so they could be checked for any signs of Master/Stranger or any other harmful side effects.
The people were questioned, and studied for more than twelve hours until they were allowed to go home because there was no signs of any side effects on any of the people that were healed. The only thing that came up was that some of the people who were accompanying someone who was injured or sick, found out that they'd been healed as well. Many of the people were extremely upset angry at being confined for so long especially after they'd been healed of sickness or injury.
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, the muse was more interested in my Robotech/Babylon 5 crossover for most of 2022. Been trying to bang this one out and this one is just large with everything going on so before I let the chapter grow to thirty thousand words I decided to stop here. Time wise this is the same day as last chapter, early morning to early afternoon. Next chapter will be late afternoon, early evening of the same day.
I hope you all have a great rest of the holiday season and that 2023 is better than 2022.